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for at least one of the following peaks
3 Climbing log entries Found.


May 19, 2012 (Sat.)
Elevation: 3960 feet; Order of Height: 43
Participants: Andrew Lavigne, Jennifer Innes, Ewart Tempest
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A two-day outing, originally destined to culiminate in beautiful Haystack Mountain, instead saw us only do a loop of less-than-glamorous Blake Peak.

We had chosen a perfectly-clear weekend to do a quiet and remote 'lollypop' loop over Haystack Mountain, starting from Elk Lake. However, when Ewart turned around due to a bit of extreme lethargy, we later ultimately decided to cut our plans short, and returned to see if he was ok. What followed the next day was a futile effort to locate him, as miscommunication and assumptions resulted in us becoming very familiar with most of the Elk Lake-Placid trail.

Trip Reports, Image Galleries or Other References:
 Image Gallery: May 2012 Blake Peak Backpack


Mar. 5, 2006 (Sun.)
Elevations: 4057 feet, 3960 feet; Order of Height: 39, 43
Participants: Andrew Lavigne, Jennifer Innes, Ewart Tempest
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Colvin and Blake today - A fine conclusion to our 2006 winter Adirondack outings. Next week it is off to Utah, and by the time we get back, Spring will have arrived!

We brought and used our skiis to help ease the pain of the trudge up and down Lake Road. Leaving our skiis at the middle trail (above Gill Brook, but before the end of the road), we headed up on a trail that was in perfect winter conditions.

Under perfectly clear skies and a stiff breeze, we arrived at the summit of Colvin at around noon. Fantastic views of the Great Range, of course. Pristine white snow mantled all of the higher peaks. Apart from the wind, it would be glorious to be up on Marcy today!

The hike along the ridge to Colvin was in great shape, too. And very little blowdown. The steep bits were very amenable to a bit of skilled glissading. At the col between Colvin and Blake, we met 'adksteve' from the online forums, who was doing precisely the same route as us today. The ascent up Blake went very quickly, and we tagged the summit and then made great time sliding down the perfect bobsled-track like trail.

We chose to head down to Lower Ausable lake from the col and dash across the lake, thereby saving us a re-ascent of Colvin. Then, back to the point along the road where we stashed the skiis, and a very quick glide back to the trailhead.

Trip Reports, Image Galleries or Other References:
 Image Gallery: March 2006 Colvin and Blake Hike


Aug. 31, 2003 (Sun.)
Elevations: 4057 feet, 3960 feet, 2720 feet; Order of Height: 39, 43, 280
Participants: Andrew Lavigne, Markus Wandel, Caroline Doucet
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I had already done Mount Colvin via the Lake Road in an earlier outing. But at the time I was not actively pursuing my 46er quest, and so did not bother to summit Blake at the same time. So... this weekend we decided that maybe we should get it done. Initially I wanted to do a 2-car point-to-point affair from Elk Lake, over the Blake-Colvin ridge, and down and out the Lake Road, but there were only three of us hiking this weekend, and there was little support for the idea. So we decided to repeat my original Colvin hike and hike just a bit farther to bag Colvin.

It was a beautiful late summer day, and after signing in with the white-bearded 'entrance guard', quickly made our way up the Lake Road. We decided to indulge ourselves of the excellent views from Indian Head and the Fishhawk cliffs even though that meant an extra bit of a detour. It was well worth it, and we had an excellent lunch break atop the Indian Head cliffs, with Lower Ausable Lake spread out below us. From there we toiled up the ridge to the summit of Colvin, with its little summit area providing the usual excellent views in almost all directions, especially towards the Great Range and down to the Lake. Next was a somewhat tiring and sometimes treacherous hike over to Blake. Blake's summit is one of the less interesting in the Adirondacks, with basically no views to speak of (and no summit sign - I had to continue down past the summit just to be sure we got it). Our mission complete, we headed back along the ridge and over Colvin again (guess I can't count that as another summitting of Colvin, can I?), and then down to the Lake road and out for the day.

Trip Reports, Image Galleries or Other References:
 Image Gallery: August 2003 hike (Mount Colvin and Blake Peak)


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